Until Tomorrow Detective
by psychadelic
Summary: She doesn't realise how much she takes those three words for granted... until it hits her square in the face.


**Disclaimer:** It all belongs to Andrew Marlowe.

**A/N:** Just a little frustration I had to get out. Not beta'ed so all mistakes belong to me. Hope you guys enjoy reading. The italics are the past.

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><p><em><strong>Until Tomorrow<strong>_

It is the sound of her ringing cellphone that shatters the silence in the apartment, waking her up from her fitful sleep. Reluctantly she opens an eye and glances at the digital clock on the bedside table. The numbers are glowing bright red informing her that it is just after one in the morning. With the shrill ringing still emanating from the device next to her, assaulting her ears, Beckett grabs the offending piece of technology and swipes her finger across the bottom of the screen; effectively shutting it up.

"Beckett," she says to whoever it is that has interrupted her sleep.

Within seconds of listening to the person on the other side Beckett is sitting upright, the blankets already thrown onto the other side of her bed, her back rigidly straight and the tension in her muscles coiled so tightly she thinks if she makes one wrong move she'll snap and break. By the time the call ends she's already working on auto-pilot, gathering up her clothes and belongings, not giving a second thought to her bed-mate who has finally awoken; having not felt her warm body next to his.

Beckett watches as he slowly rises from his sleeping position to sitting up halfway, his gaze on her.

"Kate, sweetheart. It's one in the morning, what are you doing? Come back to bed, honey," she hears him ask. Looking at him, all sleepy and warm, his hair sticking up at odd angles from the pillow and the dimpled smile he's giving her, she considers his offer – but only for a millisecond. But she cannot answer and she knows she can't grant his request either. All she knows is that she has to leave – right now because if she doesn't she'll never forgive herself. So she continues to gather her stuff and dress herself in silence.

"Kate," he calls again and she can't stop herself from looking at him, his blue eyes focused intently on her and it knocks the wind out of her. She hates herself for leaving him in the middle of the night, without any explanation, but she just doesn't have the time to go into it right now; she needs to be somewhere else.

"I... I have to go," is all she manages to say before she exits the room and the apartment, silently shutting the door as she does.

The drive to the address she has already memorised is a blur to her, instead all she can think of is the last time she saw _him_, and the words she had so carelessly uttered before he had walked out of her apartment.

"_Kate, you have to stop this, there are things and people more powerful than we can imagine here. It's going to get you killed. If not for yourself, then please stop looking into this for me," he pleaded with her. _

"_I can't, I have to find out who killed my mom and I won't stop until I do. Justice needs to be served. Either you're with me or you're not. It's your choice."_

"_Well then I guess the decision has been made. I've watched you die once; I am not prepared to do it again. I'm done..." and all she heard was the door close quietly behind him after he had so easily walked out of her life._

_She had expected to see him the next day, having thought long and hard about his decision, but he hadn't shown up at the precinct. She had casually asked the boys if he had left a message for her but the terrible duo had shaken their heads and informed her that he didn't. She had gone to The Haunt thinking he would be there, spending his time writing or clearing his head in the office there, but each time she left disappointed. He didn't show up the next day or even the next and soon enough the days turned into weeks and the weeks into months. That had been almost four years ago._

The flashing of red and blue lights bring her out of her thoughts and she heaves in a deep breath before exiting her car and walking toward the crowd of people a few feet away. The street is filled with onlookers and she knows it will only take an extra few seconds to get to where everything is happening, but she doesn't have the luxury of wasting one second so she badges her way through, not making eye contact with anyone until she comes to the front.

What she sees rocks her to the core, the horror permanently etching itself in her mind. There, in the middle of the road are two cars, or well, the remains of what used to be two cars and she can hear the emergency medics using the 'jaws of life' to open the door to one of the vehicles still housing to occupants. And then Detectives Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito are standing next to her, Ryan gently supporting her elbow without even realising it.

A few seconds later Lanie Parish materialises from the crowd and it's the third blow to her this evening. The fact that there's a medical examiner present means that there have been casualties and that cannot be good. She hears Esposito ask something but Lanie's answer is drowned out by one of the medic's shouting that they 'have a live one there' and for a second Kate feels her chest decompress but it lasts for only a second when she sees that the accident they're referring to is a woman. Kate's not sure if she should feel relieved that there is actually a survivor of this horrific crash or if she should be pissed off that they haven't gotten to _him _yet.

There's a flurry of activity around the woman as they lay her onto a gurney and place an oxygen mask on her before checking for any life-threatening injuries. Kate is so engrossed in what they are doing that she almost misses the medic's once again announcing that they have another survivor. This time, much to her relief they extricate _him_ from the tangle of metal, glass and wires. The same flurry of activity follows Richard Castle as he is placed on a stretcher and checked over.

It is while they are still checking him that Castle opens his eyes, only to shut them again to stop his head from hurting too much. He tries again a few seconds later, and this time there is a figure standing over him, blocking out all the harsh lighting.

"Detective Beckett," he drawls, "What are you doing here?"

She tries to come up with something witty, but all that comes out is that she's here because he still has her listed as his emergency contact.

"If only I knew that all it took for you to come to see me was me almost dying, I would have tried it sooner," he says and she feels the urge to hit him for it. But she realises that it's true, had she not been called by the emergency service people, she would have never went to see him.

Kate watches as his eyes close again, positive that he is in pain from being stuck in a crushed car. It's a miracle that he's survived, but then again Richard Castle always had a knack of getting out of the most dangerous and painful situation relatively unscathed and this one is no different. She is still thinking about this when the medic informs her of which hospital they are taking him to and she nods her head acknowledging him.

As she watches the two medical personnel start pushing Castle's stretcher in the direction of the ambulance the writer opens his eyes once again, the blues focussed directly on her and then she hears the three words that crumble her resolve to not cry or not let her walls down around him... again.

"Until tomorrow Detective?" his eyes questioning her.

She waits for a minute or so and then answers him, "until tomorrow Castle," and just like that she feels relief flood her body and she sinks to the ground, just happy that he is alive and back in her life. Sure there will be things to talk about and discuss and all the rest, but for now he's alive and well and that's all that really matters.

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><p>So there is it.<br>Hope you guys like it  
>I am working on a slightly happier fic, though not sure how long it will take me to get it up here as real life sometimes takes priority.<br>Well let me know what you guys think and maybe with enough prompting I might get the next fic up faster... just saying :)  
>Laterz<p>

Psych


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